Wednesday, March 9, 2011

CBRIII: Book#13: Island of the Sequined Love Nun by Christopher Moore

Tucker Case is a screw-up. He's also a pilot for make-up guru Mary Jean Dobbins. After drinking in a airport bar, Tucker makes the biggest mistake of his life. Well, up to that point.

An attractive woman at the bar wants to join the mile-high club and she'd like Tucker to be her pilot and her partner. She'll even waive her fee for services rendered if Tucker can initiate her into the club immediately. Being drunk and a man, Tucker agrees. Like many decisions made by a prick and under the influence of alcohol, this one ends badly. The plane crashes and Tucker loses his job, his pilot's license, and suffers a horrific injury.

Tucker's friend and fellow Mary Jean employee Jake Skye comes to Tucker with a letter from a Dr. Curtis on the island of Alualu. Dr. Curtis would like to employ Tucker as a pilot to ferry medical supplies to and from Alualu so that he and his wife, Beth, can continue to take care of the Shark People of the island. Tucker is more or less pushed into accepting the opportunity and leaves for the island immediately.

I had no idea what this book would be or where it would go when I began reading it. Tucker is a hapless kid who is estranged from his family and unable to make adult decisions on his own. Of course this tale turns into a kind of redemption for him that changes his life forever. What I didn't expect was the religious aspects of the story, especially the back-story of The Sky Priestess.

Moore's novels tend to be wandering while also moving along at a good pace. You're never really sure where certain information or characters will take you, but you aren't left wondering for very long. He's also gifted with the odd and I love the emmereffing odd. Talking fruit bats? Sky Priestess? Sorcerer? Cannibal? Awesome.